Folding bed



R. COOPERSVHTH.

FOLDING BED.

APPLICATIQN FILED Nov.a, 1920.

2. 2 9 l l n 7K H mw m m .m Pm

n ,wm m @im .mW ,INN l-l @Jm Q .J n mw bc, @MW 5 r. wm @my m\ W 2 3 mm oA l i R. COOPERSIVHTH.

FOLDING BED.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.s,1.92o.

-SHEET 2.

Patented Oct. l?

2 SHEETS retenes d. ir, tear.,

entre@ stares c l Y rentrent carton.

RUJDGLPH COOEERSMITH, F MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CMADA, ASSIGNGR GE @NE-HALF ITO ABRAHAM BUCHE, 0F PHLADELPHAfPENNSYLVANIA.

ronnrne ann.

Application led November 8, 1920. Serial No.. 422,706.

To all who/m t may conc-ern:

Be it known that l, RUDOLPH COOPER- SMITH, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and resident of the city of Montreal, in the Provinceof Quebec, and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Folding Beds, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in folding beds, and the objectof the invention is to provide a. bed 'of simple and durableconstruction which may be folded together with the mattress thereon witha minimum of effort into a compact, vertically disposed form. Y

A still further object is to provide a bed suitable for use in articlesof combination furniture such as described in my copending applications,Serial Numbers 422,704 and 422,705, and also for use in mantel beds andthe like.

According tothe present invention, the bed comprises a verticallydisposed head frame suitably supported on the iioor and adapted toreceive a folded bed. The bed bottom is composed of a suitable number ofsections adapted to fold upon one another into a condition ofsubstantial equilibrium about a pivot point movably connected to thehead frame, about which point the folded bed body swings, the pivotpoint being movable to carry the bed into vertical position, and duringwhich swing substantially the entire weight of the bed is supported onthe frame.

In the drawings which illustrate the invention;-

Eig. 1 is a si-de 4elevationof the open4 bed.

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of same.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the bed partly closed.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the completely closed bed.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the centre leg controlling link. o

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a corner ot' the head frame.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross section of one side of the intermediate bedbottom section.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, A.v designates the headtrame and B, C and Dithe hea-d, foot and intermediate sections ot-.fafolding bed bottom. llt will be understood that the bed bottom shown,which" comprises only three sections, is thus illustrated as a matter ofconvenience and that the number of sections comprising the bed bottom isnot thereby limited. rllhe exact construction of the bed bottom dependsupon the width or permissible height oit' 'the head frame and uponwhether an end edge or a side ed e of thebed bottom is presented to thehea frame. The term Ihead frame is purely arbitrary as, in the event ofa bed bottom presenting its side 'ridge to the lframe A, the frame wouldnot be strictly speaking a head trame.

The head frame comprises corner uprights llconnected to foot members 12projecting in 7 0 the longitudinal direction of the bed, both div rectlyand by braces 13.. The corner posts '11. are also connected at theirlower ends by'an angle or other suitable member 14 extending across thebed and at suitable intervals by other transverse members 15. Braces 16may be provided between the corner posts and the member 14. Theconstruction thus described constitutes a framework whichwill stand byitself on the door and which willbe suliciently stable to support thebed in either open or closed position and during movement from oneposition to another. This :trame may be attached to some other articleof furniture, such as a davenport, and be supported thereby or may besupported directly from the floor, casters 17 being provided if desiredto facilitate the movement of the device around a room.. rlhefree'extremity of each member 12 preferably has the horizontal outwardlyturned flange thereof cut away, as shown in Figure 6, to give clearanceforthe legs ofthe device. The flange is obtained on the inside for thepurpose of attaching a corner brace 16a-by securing a short length ofangle 12a to the upstanding flange or4 the angle 12. rllhe inturnediange of the angle 12a` and the ontturned flange-ot1 the angle 12provide horizontal surfaces to which the casters may be secured. At thetop oir" each corner post a member 18 may be connected extending in thelongitudinal direction of the bed over the foot 12 and designed tosupport the top board of a davenport frame orthe shelf of a mantel bedor other element. Each member 18 may be'rigidly connected to the frameby a brace 19. A short upright angle or the like 20 may be connected ata suitable point `to each i'oot member 12 directly 'and by means of abrace MO 2.1. rllhis member 20 will serve to attach the .ends of a-davenport frame to the bedy frame A. It will be. understood that themembers 18,19, and 21 form nopart of the .invention .or vof the'bedconstruction proper but are here shown and described merely as indi-.catin'g'the manner-'in which the bed may be .incorporated in otherarticles of furniture. f

The bed bottom sections -B and CI each comprise a lll-shaped framemember 22 `formed preferably of. anfangle' iron bent to U-shape andprovided at the corners with, braces 23." The angles forming theseframes are disposed with one flange inwardly turned and one vflangeupwardly turned and the vframes are arranged with their ends adjacent,as clearly shown.

The lntermedlate section comprlses at each I side vofthe bed a shortlength of angle 24 pivotally connected to the adjacent ends of' thevsections B and C at the points 25, the. @angle being disposed'similarlyto the angles of the vframes 22 and the upwardly projecting flangesbeing connected. 'The whole forms a rectangular framework \1n whichl anysuitablefform of bed bottomv fabric `may be stretched.

A short lengthv of angle 26Vis disposed with oneflangefoutwardlyfproject-lngV and one flange d/own'A wardly projecting,the downwardly pro? jecti'ng flange being rigidly. secured to theupwardly projecting Hange ofthe intermef diate section angle 24;, sothat the two. angles together formlla -member'of Z section, as

clearly shown Ain Figure 7 .i The length" of the anglesj'26. is suchthat. they f orm stops limiting rthe .relative movement of the ,sec-

22 projecting' bevond the pivot-points 25 e unfolding of the/bedtoth'ehead frame A by` a link- 27 which is' pivoted at. the'lowerfed tothe foot'12 and .at the upper-end approximately midway of nectedtdjfthe'eorre'sponding foot 12 b a link -29ipivoted z iliffjoiue.end tothe leg an at the '55 opposite end tolthe footl The movement of vis-'j'heldagainst excess swin #would lower '-thehead end of the bed af leg 28pivoted toward its upper end to "tgje fsection; swung through an angleof 90- untl'ie-lengthvr of. '-the jhead -section B. rThis whichvvbottom` link...' 'l `heupper'end ofeach leg 28 is con-l the legand-.link are: controlled. in the fold ing and unfoldingv of th b'edbyajointed link 30 pivot dat one en tothe leg 28 and at the opposite endto the adjacent "corner post 11. `This jointed link 30 is provided withunfolding'or straightening out movement of the link and throughv it themovement of themembers 28 and 29.`

The extremities of the :U frame in the head section B are provided withdownwardly eX- tending lugs 32, to which the upper ends of legs 33 arepivotally connected,'the'legs being connected across .the bed bottom ybyany sultable number of straps 34, so' as to form a comparatively rigidstructure which serves as a transverse brace to hold the sides of thebed bottom frame Vagainst being drawn to ether by the tension of the bedbottom fa ric. A separate transverse brace of any well knownconstruction, indicated at 35, may be provided if desired, thusrendering possible the elimination ofl the transverse membersA 34. Thisleg is automatically operated in the folding and unfolding of the bedbottom by means'ofm, link 36 at each side A of the structure, pivotallyconnected at one end tothe leg 33 and pivotally'connected at theopposite end tothe -link 27 conveniently by means of a' bracket 37 onthe link 27. rlhe legs 33 being positioned at the junctionof the bedsections. B and D, as clearly shown in Figure 1, support both sectionsin the open position. The Mlinks 36 at opposite sides of Ithe bed are4preferably connected by transverse' members 38.

It will be understood that the transverse members 34 and 38 are notessential but'are desirable for the purpose of bracing the two sides ofthe bed and to ensure simultaneous and.l smooth action of the mechanism.The

outer or foot end ofthe bed bottom section C is supported at each sideby a leg f 39 pivoted adjacent its up er end .to a suitable point on theframe 22 an pivotally connected at its upperend with one end of a link40,the opposite end of which is. pivotally 'connected` to the adjacent'member- 24 at a' point eccentric with respect to the pivot 25 of theframe 22.

Thelegs 39 may be connected across the bed.

by 'a` transverse brace 41; rlihe braces 34 and 41 may if desired beconnected to the legs by diagonal braces 42', so thatwith the legs they.willform al frame rigid in the Atransverse directionf vwhich will holdthe bed against lateral swaying.'

'iF-he operation of he device is extremely I simple. .Assuming the bedtov be .inthe open position shown in Figure l1, the outer end of. thefootsection C is'lifted;v and the tion D and movement ofthe section Crela tive to the section D is thereby 'arrested and on continuedmovementof the section C, tl1e pivotal motionis transferred to the link- 29 atvthe jun''ztionthereof.v and pivoted connection of the sections D and B,so that asthe -section- C swings do'wn igito'parallelism with the.section B, the section `D la tail 3 1; which forms a stop' limiting theswings to vertical position, as clearly illu'sv trated in Figures 3 and4. When this part I of the movement is complete, the section C- isdisposed above the section B and both the links 29 to be quite light.

are in horizontal position and supported by the supports of section B.During the upward swing of section C, the links 40 swing the legs 39into alignment withl the bed section, as clearly shown in iFigures 3 and4, the movement being due to the dierential action resulting from theeccentric disposition of the bed section and link pivots. On completionof the first folding movement, the entire Weight of the bed bottom issupported by the supports of section B. 1t will be noted that the upperend of the supporting link 27 is about midway of the length of sectionB, being in effect slightly nearer section D than it is to the head ofthe section. This disposition of the supporting point places the foldedbed bottom substantially in equilibrium, the greater portion overhangingtoward the head frame A about balancing the lesser portion overhangingtoward the foot with the additional weight of the intermediate section Dand the legs 33 and their operating links 36. From the horizontalposition, the folded bed bottom swings with a touch to the inclinedposition shown in Figure 3, the side frames of section B finally comingto rest against the inturned flanges of the'supporting links 27. Duringthis movement. the links 36 draw up the legs 33 into parallelism withthe side frames of section B in the same manner as the legs 39 are drawnup. 1n this position, the entire weight of the folded bed bottom and themattress thereon is supported through the links 27 on the head frame andon the legs 28. The folding operation is completed by pressing thefolded bed bottom toward the head frame, which results in the supportinglinks 27 swinging about their lower pivotal points on the head frame andbringing the parts into the position shown in Figure 4. 1n this finalclosing movement, the links 29 swing the legs 28 into alignment with thelinks 27, the links 30 folding up.

The unfolding of the bed bottom is the reverse of the folding upoperation, the only points of difference being that, when the folded bedis swung out to the inclined position shown in Figure 3 and the legs 28extended, their movement is limited by the tails 31 of the linksstriking the flanges of the head frame members 11. The employment ofthese folding links 30 en ables 1f the links 30 were omitted, the links29 would require to be suiiiciently stiff to support the weight of thebed, as they would be in compression when acting to check outwardmovement of the legs 28 and links 27. A second point of difference liesin the unfolding of the bed bottom proper. When the folded bed has beenswung to horizontal position and the section C is beingv swung` out, theextremities of the side members strike the members very easily as it isnot necessary at any time to lift more than a small part of the weightof the structure. When folded, the bed occupies a` space slightly deeperthan twice the thickness of the mattress and slightly higher than halfthe length of the bed and is thus readily available for concealment inan article of furniture, such as a davenport, or for storage in acupboard or behind a curtain suspended from the membersv 18. rEheconstruction vemploys only stock material and may be manufactured andput together with a minimum expenditure of labor, so that the devicewill be inexpensive.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is v 1. 1n a foldingbed, a main frame, a bed bottom comprising a plurality of articulatedsections, links pivotally connected to the frame and to the bed bottomand adapted to` support the bed bottom in folded and unfolded positionand to swing the folded bed bottom into and out of the frame and legsadapted to limit the swing k'of t-he bed supporting links pivotallyconnected to the latter.

2. In a folding bed, amain frame, a foldable bed bottom, links pivotallyconnected to the frame and to the bed bottom and adapted -to support thebed bottom in folded and .unfolded position and to swing the folded bedbottom into and out of the frame, legs pivotally connected to the linksand links connected between said legs and the frame to position the legsto limit of the bed supporting links.

3; 1n a folding bed, a main frame, a foldable bed bottom, linkspivotally connected to the frame and to the bed bottom and adapted tosupport 'the bed bottom in folded and unfolded position and to swing thefolded bed bottom into and out of the frame,

legs pivo'ted to said links to limit the movein closed position into andout of the frame, said bed bottom being swingingly related to the links,legs connected to the head section of the bed bottom and adapted tosupport the same in horizontal position, additional legs pivoted to saidlinks, and means v legs foldablyconnected to certain of said sections,controlling connections extending between said links and the supportinglegs `of one of said sections, controlling connections extending betweenthe bed bottom and the supporting legs of another of said sections, legspivoted to lsaid links, and controlling connections extending betweensaid last mentioned legs and the frame.v

6. In a folding bed, a main frame, a bed bottom comprising a pluralityof articulated sections, links pivotally connectedy to the frame and thebed bottom adapt-ed to.' swing the bed when folded to an inclinedposition, sufficiently farvfrom the' frame to permit the bed to swingabout the links to horizontal position and legs pivoted to said linksand lmeans operable by movement of the links relative to the frame toswing said legs to folded and unfolded position.

7. In a folding bed, a main frame a bed ybottom comprising a pluralityof articulated sections, links pivotally connected the swin frame and tothe bed bottom and adapted to the bed when folded to an inclinedpositlon sufficiently far from the frame to permit the bed to lswingabout the links to lhorizontal position and legs having pivotalconnection with said links and adapted to y,

support the bed bottom directly on the floor while it is being swung tohorizontal position and unfolded.

8 In a folding bed, a main frame, a bed bottom comprislng a plurality ofarticulated sections, links pivotally connected to the frame and bedbottom and adapted to support the bed bottom in folded and unfoldedposition and9 to swing the folded bed bottom into and out of thevframeand meansextending between the links and frame to limit the outwardswing of the links and to assist the latter in supporting the weight ofthe bed bottom during folding and unfolding operations.

9. In a folding bed, a main frame,- a bed bottom comprising a pluralityof artieue lated sections, llinks pivotally connected to the frame andto the 'bed bottom and adapted to support the bed bottom in folded iitial unfolding of the bed bottom.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set y my hand. t

RUDOLPH rCOOPERSIVIT-IH.

